Sidney, 1877

Sidney in Cheyenne County was laid out
in the fall of 1867 at the time of the completion of the Union
Pacific Railroad. Though prosperous as a frontier town, it had
a population of only about five hundred until the discovery of
gold in the Black Hills. In the great rush to the new gold fields,
hundreds of people passed through Sidney, which became a major
outfitting point for the gold rush. The raucous atmosphere produced
by travelers and soldiers from nearby Sidney Barracks was described
briefly by a correspondent for The Daily State Journal
of Lincoln on March 29, 1877.

The correspondent, identified only as Jack,
described several amusements of Sidney that he had recently visited:
"The first place we were steered to was one that is visible
to any and all passengers from the windows of the cars on the
track of the Union Pacific, and situated on Front street, known
as the SENATE. Entering this famous resort and saloon, we find
at all hours of the evening the proprietor, whose cognomen is
'Texas,' gracefully perched behind the bar, waiting upon his
many customers. . . . A large archway divides the saloon into
two separate rooms, and in the rear one we find almost every
kind of a gambling game played. There is a constant uproar there
all the time every dealer of the games endeavoring to rope in
the many gazers on."

The next establishment Jack visited was
"Joe Lane's Centennial Dance Hall. Upon arriving, we thought
that it was indeed a 'Lane,' and moreover, one of those that
has no turning--a long one. Filled to a red hot capacity, and
still a 'hotting' . . . . To stand and look on at a pack of intoxicated
men and dancehouse women endeavoring to dance, was not what we
desired to see, and consequently we left the 'centennial' a better
and wiser man."

Jack, however, had only praise for the
next Sidney entertainment he visited. "Thiele & Wagner
have the finest concert Hall in the State, and they are receiving
a large share of patronage. Unlike the other places mentioned,
this is a pleasant resort to pass away a few spare hours in the
evening. Becoming somewhat fatigued (we do not mean 'boozed')
we left for home, concluding to take in the remainder of the
town at some future time."